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The brutal beating of young Zachary Sowers in Baltimore–and the continuing story of his vigilant wife, Anna–have touched many lives over the past 10 months. A pack of thugs pummeled Sowers into a coma last summer. They received measly sentences; Sowers’ wife is fighting for tougher laws. On Tuesday night, Sowers died of his injuries. He was 28:

In the 10 months since teenagers set upon Zachary Sowers and pummeled him into a coma, he lingered in oblivion. While his swollen face gradually resumed its natural form, he fought off infections and seemed to react, almost imperceptibly, to sounds in his hospital room.

But Sowers never recovered consciousness. He died Tuesday night at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center “after a long and treacherous battle” against his injuries, a Web site set up in his name announced yesterday. He was 28.

His wife, Anna, to whom he had been married just nine months at the time of the attack, said in a brief interview that she was grateful that “we had so many supporters to help us get through all of this.”

He will be buried on Saturday in Circleville, Ohio, where he was born and spent part of his childhood.

The apparently random attack on Sowers occurred on a June night as he walked near his Patterson Park home. His wallet, cell phone and watch were stolen. One of the teenagers was seen stomping on Sowers’ head, and was later sentenced to 40 years in prison.

News of the Sowers case stirred an uproar over rampant criminality on Baltimore’s streets, particularly in Southeast Baltimore neighborhoods that city officials had sought to paint as safe for up-and-coming professional couples like Sowers and his wife. None was more vocal than Anna Sowers herself, who called her husband’s main attacker, 16-year-old Trayvon Ramos, “an evil person, completely soulless.”

After hearing of Sowers’ death, Mayor Sheila Dixon issued a statement saying she was saddened, and offered prayers for his family and friends.

“His loss is a tragedy for the entire city of Baltimore,” Dixon said. “We must continue to work hard to ensure the safety of every citizen.”

Apologists for punks in the city haven’t worked hard enough.

Sowers was attacked after spending a Friday evening with friends in a bar. Because his wallet was stolen, he remained unidentified at Johns Hopkins Hospital for more than a day. His wife, who was in Chicago at the time, began to worry that something had happened to him because he failed to return phone calls or text messages, and his friends in Baltimore couldn’t track him down.

With the help of city police, Anna Sowers learned that there was an unidentified man at Hopkins who had been found unconscious in the street. When she arrived at the hospital – nearly a full day after the attack – her husband’s face was so badly bruised and swollen that she had trouble identifying him.

For months after the beating, Anna Sowers would rub Burt’s Bees balm on his lips to keep them from drying as he lay unresponsive in bed, she said in an interview last year with The Sun. It was a tip she had learned from a nurse.

Ten days after the attack in the 300 block of S. Robinson St., four teenagers were arrested. Police discovered that the teenagers had used Sowers’ credit card to rent two movies – Déjà Vu and Smokin’ Aces – and reviewed surveillance camera footage from a gas station that showed the car they drove.

Arthur Jeter, 18; Wilburt Martin, 19; Eric L. Price, 17; and Ramos were charged with attempted first-degree murder, robbery and related offenses. In December, Price, Jeter and Martin pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery after agreeing to testify against Ramos, who was accused of beating Sowers while Price watched. The other two had observed from the car.

In exchange for their guilty pleas, Price, Jeter and Martin received 30-year prison terms with all but 15 years suspended. They stand to serve about eight.

Ramos, the ringleader, was charged as an adult and pleaded guilty to robbery and attempted first-degree murder.

Anna Sowers, who had nothing but praise for the city police detectives who worked on her husband’s case, said after the court hearing that the sentences “disgusted” her. “I feel that today, justice was not served at all,” she said. “I feel like I’ve got no rights.”

Amid all the crimes last year in Baltimore, the brutal attack on Sowers struck a chord. Politicians promised to step up law enforcement.

Anna Sowers told a reporter that she wanted politicians to do something about crime. “It’s people like me and Zach who will make Baltimore a better city,” she said. “I should be able to walk two blocks to my car at night and feel safe.”

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be sent to the Zach Sowers Support Fund, which will be used for The Zach Sowers Brain Trauma Research Fund at Johns Hopkins and/or continuing legislative efforts for Zach’s Law. Contributions can be mailed to: